“6 Is More Than A Number”

Born William Felton Russell on February 12th, 1934 in Monroe Louisiana, William, or as he's known now by millions of basketball fans around the world Bill Russell. Would become known as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, across his 13-year NBA career Russell amassed an unworldly 12 All-Star appearances, 5 Most Valuable Player Awards, and 11 NBA Championships, not to mention 2 more NBA titles as coach of the Boston Celtics. Today Russell is seen as one of, if not the greatest to ever play the game of basketball. Sadly Russell died earlier this month at the age of 88, just a few weeks later it was announced by the NBA that Russell's number 6 would be universally retired across the league. This raises the question, should Russell's number 6 stand unanimous with the likes of Jackie Robinson and Wayne Gretzky as the only 3 American sports athletes to have their numbers retired?

As of late, the Basketball world has proven to be highly split on the decision to retire Russell's number. While one side boasts of his achievements not just on the court but in the fight for Civil Rights. Others claim that if we retire Russell's number, what is to stop the league from starting a trend of retiring other great's jerseys? I'm here to shine a light on not just the player “Bill Russell” but the man himself, and show you why Russell does indeed deserve to be held forever in the highest honor any sports league can show.

Bill Russell is undoubtedly one of the greatest Basketball players of all time since his time playing at the University of San Francisco and becoming a highly touted prospect in the 1956 NBA draft. Where he would be selected by the St Louis Hawks with the 2nd overall pick, the same day the Hawks would send Russell to the Boston Celtics in exchange for future Hall Of Famers Cliff Hagan and Ed Macauley. It's safe to say though Hagan would go on to have an illustrious career with the Hawks leading them to the NBA Championship in 1958, the accomplishments of Russell dwarf those of Hagan, and Macauley who was at the end of his career and only a shell of his former self. Russell would go on to lead the Celtics to 11 NBA titles amassing more accolades than any player in league history. Known as one of the greatest defensive players of all time, Russell was known as the man who invented the blocked shot by learning to time his jumps at the correct time to refrain from fouling the shooter. He also learned to tip his blocks to himself or teammates resulting in possession almost 75% of the time. This also led Russell to become the greatest rebounder of all time, as he averaged 22.5 Rebounds per game for his career. Sadly the art of defensive stat keeping didn't come around until the 1973-74 season, in which Russell had been retired for 4 seasons at that point. Despite this, the records show Russell to be one of the greatest players of all time and quite possibly the greatest Bigman to ever do it.

To have your number universally retired it takes more than just good stats and a few championships to do so. It takes a heart of gold and the wherewithal to know what to do with it. Bill Russell became one of the most profound leaders of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, Marching with the likes of MLK and standing with Boxing legend Muhammed Ali. Russell demonstrated he was more than just “A Basketball Player”. Russell's stand for equal rights began early in his career back in 1961, during an exhibition road trip that included a game in Lexington Kentucky. A few of Russell's black teammates (Sam Jones, and Tom Sanders) decided to go to a coffee shop before a game, when they arrived and were met with a clear annotation they were not welcomed along with a refusal to be served, Russell was outraged. Knowing the esteem he was held in as one of the best players in the league, he and his teammates boycotted the game and flew back to Boston sending the message that if they weren't going to be treated the same as their white teammates they wouldn't play the same game as them either. This began Russell's notion that he would give up Basketball for equal rights. For the rest of his life, Russell would make stands for equal rights and equal treatment of all people no matter what. For his heroics throughout his life, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.

I hope you all were able to see Bill Russell for what he really was today, not just as an 11-time NBA Champ, 5 Time MVP, 12 Time All-Star, and a Hall of Famer. But as a leader in the fight for Civil Rights, a leader in the fight for equality for all, and above all else a great man that wanted no more than to see all the world rejoice and be free together as one, Thank you…